Forum for Science, Industry and Business

Siemens to supply power to Native American reservation in California

26.08.2015

Together with Blue Lake Rancheria, a Native American reservation in the federal US-state California, and the Schatz Energy Research Center of California's Humboldt State University, Siemens is building a microgrid to supply electrical power to the reservation's key buildings and institutions across 0.4 square kilometers. The tribal government building, businesses, a hotel and critical Red Cross safety shelter-in-place facilities, among others, will be supplied. In coordination with the local utility Pacific Gas & Electric, the microgrid – a regional and island network capable intelligent power distribution grid – will enable the reservation to cover its future energy demand independently and ecologically without a significant risk of blackouts or power interruptions. The microgrid is planned to be installed and operational by fall 2016.

The assets to be integrated into the microgrid system include a photovoltaic plant with a power output of 0.5 megawatts (MW), a biomass fuel cell system and diesel generators for generating electrical power as well as a battery storage system with a working capacity of 950 kilowatt hours (kWh). The microgrid's photovoltaic plant will be the largest in California's Humboldt County.

It is expected to help save 150 metric tons of CO2 each year. The microgrid energy management solution based on the Siemens network control system Spectrum Power supports unmanned operation and runs on a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) platform.

The network control system will handle control and energy management functions of the local power supply grid. Supplemented by integrated weather and load forecasting tools of the grid control system, the reservation will be able to accurately predict power consumption in order to control the distributed power generation systems and storage units dynamically and energy efficiently.

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for more than 165 years. The company is active in more than 200 countries, focusing on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization. One of the world's largest producers of energy-efficient, resource-saving technologies, Siemens is No. 1 in offshore wind turbine construction, a leading supplier of combined cycle turbines for power generation, a major provider of power transmission solutions and a pioneer in infrastructure solutions as well as automation, drive and software solutions for industry. The company is also a leading provider of medical imaging equipment – such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging systems – and a leader in laboratory diagnostics as well as clinical IT. In fiscal 2014, which ended on September 30, 2014, Siemens generated revenue from continuing operations of €71.9 billion and net income of €5.5 billion. At the end of September 2014, the company had around 343,000 employees worldwide on a continuing basis.